


?!

by swirlgirl



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-11
Updated: 2014-06-11
Packaged: 2018-02-04 06:02:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1768153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swirlgirl/pseuds/swirlgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is my entry for day 4 of Swan Queen Week. Accidental stimulation.</p>
<p>I feel as though I should mention that I have only watched about 3 episodes of the actual show. I prefer the tumblr version.<br/>If anything is strange or off, this is likely the reason. Or I just suck. :)</p>
<p>Either way, I hope you enjoy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	?!

Emma Swan unfolded herself from the driver's seat of her tiny yellow car and stepped out. Her entire body felt like a question mark. She needed a new car. She needed a new life. She needed this to be over with.

Running her sweaty palms over her thighs, she considered getting right back into said car..because coffee with Regina? Scratch that. Coffee with a rather angry, Emma-we-need-to-talk Regina?

Oh, lord. 

(You did this.)

Emma ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to fix it, knowing that she was probably making it messier than usual. She could see Regina already waiting inside, perfectly put together and peering with elegant irritation at her watch. Of course she was. Emma was late. As usual.

(You are just like your mother.)

At least she had chosen a table near a window. There would be more witnesses if Regina decided to have an Evil Queen moment and dissolve Emma's brain in a purple cloud of smoke. Or something.

Taking a deep breath and running her hand through her hair one more time, a resolute Emma strode into Granny's and toward her doom (ironically shaped as a beautiful woman...it figured), trying to exude confidence she didn't feel in the slightest.

"Ms. Swan," An impeccable eyebrow rising by way of greeting. "You're late. Although, I should not have expected otherwise. I took the liberty of ordering your coffee. I imagine it will be to your liking."

Still standing, Emma lifted the cup and took a swig. It was perfect, and she wondered when exactly the other woman had learned how she took her coffee. The question would have to wait, though. Regina was livid. Any fool could see that. Even her lipstick seemed more severe than usual...more Enchanted Forest than Storybrooke. Memories of meeting the Evil Queen still fresh in her mind, she shivered. The small amount of confidence Emma had gathered poofed out of existence right there. 

"It's Ms. Swan, now? I thought we were past that." Emma knows her voice sounds hollow, but can't help it. "After the life you gave Henry and me in New York? After Neverland? After teaching me magic and letting me feel...you, that's it?"

Regina's eyes softened.

"After Robin?" She murmured. And then, just like that, her eyes hardened again. "Please sit down. I asked you here because we need to talk over a few things and I can't talk to you while you're..." Regina wrinkled her nose and made a vague hand movement, "hovering."

"You know I didn't mean to mess things up with Robin. I would never intentionally hurt you. I'm so sorry, Regina. And, you taught me to hover. Remember?" Emma stated, her face earnest as she remembered a falling bridge and the tingling of Regina's absolute belief in her. Regina winced, and Emma felt a gentle force place her into her chair. Emma, trying to ignore just how conflicted that gentle nudge had made her feel, cleared her throat. 

"Soooo, what do we need to talk about? Are you planning to run me out of town by booting my car again? Because that made it seem an awful lot like you wanted me to..." 

"No. I'm not running you out of town, Ms. Swan. Quite the contrary."

"What the hell does that mean?" Damned cryptic woman. 

"It means I'm thinking of leaving town." Upon seeing that Emma was about to leap out of her chair again, Regina quickly interjected. "Don't get too excited. I'd like to take Henry. You have your pirate now, and all I have is Henry. I think it's time I made my own good memories, don't you think?

Emma was dumbfounded. If she'd felt like the embodiment of a question mark earlier, now she was a font-size 100, bolded, underlined exclamation point. Regina leaving town. Taking Henry. HER pirate? What the ever-loving fuck? The shock began to trickle into the pit of her belly and settled there like two week old sushi.

"Of course, you would be enlightened as to our location and would be free to visit Henry as often as you like." Regina continued. "It is not my intention to take him away from you. Only to take Henry and myself away from here...start a new life together."

Emma swallowed something that could have been her heart.

"...why a new life? Why not this one? You're...you can't leave this town." 

(You. You did this...)

"Whyever not?" Regina began with bravado. "The curse is long broken. We can all come and go as we choose. You 'saved' us...from me. I'm..." Her voice shattered and Emma ached to put it back together again. Instead, she scrubbed her hand over her face and tried to organize her thoughts.

"You can't leave because this town IS you. You made it, you run it, and despite everything, you love it." Regina scoffed, but Emma continued. "Look, when I first came here, I felt unwelcome. It wasn't just the boot, or the fact that you eventually tried to take me out with baked goods. It was because the town itself felt hostile. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"No, but I imagine you will be arriving at some sort of point soon, Miss. Swan?"

"My point is...sometimes I feel like a metaphor. A white blood cell forever fighting infection, you know?"

"I'm surprised you know what a metaphor is! And, in this little scenario, I would be the infection?" 

"No. I told you. You're the whole fucking town. The heart of it. The infection was the curse, I think...but, now it's something else. All I know is that, without you, there would be nothing left to fight for." Emma tried for a grin, but the upward movement of her cheeks caused a tear to slide down her cheek and catch in the corner of her mouth. She swiped it away quickly. "As exhausting as it is, I love this fight. I think I was kind of MADE for this fight."

"I'm not a good person. I don't deserve to be fought for. I don't deserve...love, true or otherwise."

"No. You deserve better." Because, oh my god, Regina had earned perfection, or at the very least, a freaking break. 

Emma watched Regina's eyes turn to liquid and then slip shut. She smiled sadly, then closed her own eyes; imagined trailing her fingers over Regina's face...her cheeks, her eyelids, her lips. She wanted so badly to comfort the other woman that it was a physical ache, but didn't quite know how. The barrier between them was still too strong. 

"Don't go. Please." She whispered, unable to stop herself from imagining her lips just grazing Regina's. She focused on mentally smudging that Evil Queen lipstick, and could almost, almost taste it. It didn't matter where this new, thrumming energy was coming from. It rang so true that she couldn't find it in herself to be ashamed of the direction her thoughts were heading of their own volition. "Just stay here. We'll figure this out. You, me and Henry. Together."

Emma heard a startled gasp and opened her eyes to reveal Regina, lips parted slightly under trembling fingers.

"What...was that?" Regina's voice was unsteady. 

Oh, shit.

"What was what?" She tried for nonchalance, but Emma thought she might know what was what. She could still feel the the deliciousness of Regina's lips on her own as though they had really been there, and wondered...

Regina ran her fingers over her own mouth, and Emma noticed with satisfaction that she'd smudged her own lipstick. 

"You. Did you...?"

Emma chuckled, suddenly delighted.

"You felt that? Oh my God, Regina! Wait..." Emma closed her eyes again and imagined holding Regina's hand, thumbing her palm, and finally raising it to her lips to place a lingering kiss just above the wrist. 

"Oh!" That breathy exclamation was the cutest sound Emma had ever heard, and coupled with the uncharacteristic blush on Regina's face, it was downright irresistible. Regina was stroking her own palm in an absent manner, eyes downcast. "I thought you lost your magic."

"I thought so, too. Guess not." Emma shrugged. She'd tried a few things after her magic had been taken, but they hadn't worked. However, "It's just like you said. Magic is emotion." she murmured pointedly, ducking her head so she could peer straight into Regina's eyes. Paradoxical eyes...oh so dark, yet shining with a light Emma had never quite seen in them before.

Maybe Emma wasn't ready to admit everything yet, but judging by the cautiously optimistic look on Regina's face, she seemed to understand anyway.

"Well, that is certainly new. And very, very interesting. You and I are going to work on this new development, but for now I need to make a few calls." Regina stood and dropped a couple bills on the table. "I'll...see you soon."

"Will you at least think about what I said?" 

"Oh, I felt you loud and clear." And suddenly, Emma felt phantom lips against her own, and a tongue sliding along her lower lip like a promise. Yes, definitely like a promise. "Emma."

And, with that, Regina turned on her heel and sauntered to the door of the diner. Knowing Regina was purposely adding a little extra swing to her hips for her benefit, Emma, feeling decidedly drunk, followed her with her eyes. What was even happening?

Pausing for a moment at the door, Regina threw a goofy wink in her direction (Regina goofy?? Will wonders ever cease?) and left just as Emma felt the ghost of a pinch on the very area of her body she'd just been gaping at on the other woman. 

"Whoa..."

Maybe, just maybe, everything would be just fine after all. Emma would finish her coffee, check on Snow and baby Neil, check in with Henry, and she'd see Regina soon.

Her phone buzzes and she swipes the screen to reveal a text message. "Speak of the devil..." 

_For the record...when I had your car booted, I did want to you stay. I just didn't know it yet._

And then:

_I'm going to make lasagna tonight. I know it's your favourite. I would be lying if I said I wasn't making it with you in mind. You and Henry are more than welcome. See you at 6?_

Emma hid a grin she knew was simply ridiculous by dropping her face into folded arms. Yup. Just fine. More than fine, even.

_He's NOT my pirate. See you at 5:45. I wouldn't dare to be late._


End file.
